Highlights of Bhutan

Getting ready

No special training is needed. Comfortable shoes for uneven cobbles and stone steps at the heritage sites, and a light layer for early mornings, will cover it.

Altitude and acclimatisation

The high point on this trip is 3,180 m. Physically this is an easy trip. The Tiger's Nest hike is the one demanding morning: about 900 m of ascent over five hours return, with a horse available for the lower half.

Rules we work to: gain no more than 400 to 500 m of sleeping altitude a day above 3,000 m, take a rest day roughly every 1,000 m, climb high and sleep low on those days, drink three to four litres daily, and skip alcohol and sleeping tablets above 3,500 m. Your guide carries a pulse oximeter and a first aid kit and records the group morning and evening.

Diamox (acetazolamide) is a legitimate aid, not a shortcut, and works best started 24 hours before you go high. Discuss it with your own doctor before you travel; we do not prescribe.

If anyone deteriorates, the answer is descent, immediately and without debate. Our guides have the authority to turn a client around and they use it.

Permits and paperwork

Bhutan visa and the Sustainable Development Fee, both included in your package price. Bhutan does not permit independent travel; every visitor books through a licensed operator with a guide and driver.

For Bhutan we submit your visa application with the Sustainable Development Fee once your booking is confirmed. Allow two to three weeks.

Money, tipping and costs on the ground

Bhutanese ngultrum is pegged to the Indian rupee, and both circulate. Cards work in Thimphu and Paro hotels but carry cash elsewhere.

Budget for drinks, souvenirs and any meals not listed in the itinerary.

Tipping is customary and genuinely matters to the crew, but it is not compulsory and never demanded. As a guide to the guide: around USD 8 to 12 per day for your trekking guide and USD 6 to 8 for each porter, pooled by the group and handed over at the end.

Staying in touch

Wi-Fi in hotels, good mobile coverage in the western valleys.

Health and safety

No vaccinations are legally required for Bhutan, but hepatitis A, typhoid and tetanus are sensible and a rabies course is worth discussing if you are travelling for a long time. Check with a travel clinic six to eight weeks before you fly.

Drink bottled or treated water and be sensible about street food in the first few days.

Our guides carry a comprehensive first aid kit. We hold a 24-hour operations line in Kathmandu throughout your trip, and we run rescue coordination ourselves rather than handing it to a third party.

Booking and cancellation

A deposit confirms your dates and the balance is due before departure. If your plans change we will move your booking to another date rather than treat it as a cancellation wherever the ground operators allow it.

Written quotes are fixed. We do not add fuel or permit surcharges after you have booked, and if a government fee rises between your booking and your departure we absorb it.

Questions before you commit are welcome and never rushed. Write to us with what you actually want and we will tell you plainly whether this trip is the right one, including when the answer is that a different route would suit you better.